BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. , 358 



.An assistant of the bureau attended the Georgia Forestry Con- 

 vention at Macon in June and delivered an address on -the relation 

 of forestry to wild life in the South, stressing especially the impor- 

 tance of controlling forest fires, which are destructive not only to 

 forests but also to valuable wild life. On request of the department 

 of game and fish of Georgia an examination was made in June of 

 conditions on Blackbeard Island, where deer Avere alleged to have 

 become excessively abundant under the complete protection afforded 

 by an executive order. Adjustment of the matter was pending at 

 the close of the year. 



LIFE HABITS OF INJURIOUS ANIMALS. 



StXidies of the life habits of animals were continued during the 

 year, especially the food habits of certain injurious rodents, because 

 of the urgent need <^f more intimate knowledge of the relations of 

 these animals to agriculture, forestry, and stock raising. The infor- 

 mation thus gained is of special importance in efforts of the bureau 

 to develop improved methods of control or eradication of rodent 

 pests. 



Field investigations of beavers were made in Washington, Minne- 

 sota. Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York. Complaints had reached 

 the bureau from various places, especially in the Adirondack Moun- 

 tains, X. Y., of extensive damage by the beaver, in response to which 

 studies were made with a view to the control of this valuable fur 

 bearer and its utilization in fur farming. As a result of these inves- 

 tigations a bulletin covering the economic status of this animal was 

 prepared and is now in press. 



In Washington and Oregon field studies of pocket gophei"s in 

 progress were practically completed at the end of the year. An 

 account of the life habits and economic relations of the so-called 

 mountain beaver, or sewellel, based largely on work in AVashington, 

 is nearly completed. In Arizona a part of the month of October 

 was devoted to checking results of investigations in and about ex- 

 )>erimental plots established in cooperation with the Forest Service, 

 the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and the Universitv of Ari- 



CI? CD ' • • ^ 



zona, to determine the effect of native rodents on forage production 

 and the carrying capacity of stock ranges. 



PROTECTION OF LAND FUR-BEARING ANIMALS IN ALASKA. 



The work of protecting land fur-bearing animals in Alaska has 

 been carried on so far as possible with the limited appropriation and 

 under the inadequate fur law now in force. On September 10. 1921, 

 new regulations for the protection of land fur-bearing animals in 

 Alaska were promulgated, the most important change being the open- 

 ing of the season on beaver and marten; there had been no open 

 season on beaver since 1910 and none on marten since 1916. The new 

 i-e<?.ulations lengthened the open season on muskrat in district Xo. 1 

 one month in spring, to April 30, and also prohibited the destruction 

 of beaver houses or runways bv the use of dynamite or other explo- 

 sives or in any other manner. 



Fur-warden service has been continued through the chief fur 

 warden at Juneau and through wardens and deputies at Unalakleet, 



